Elizabeth, it never would have worked between us
by Nebride
Summary: Will ponders Jack’s last words to Elizabeth


"ELIZABETH . . . IT WOULD NEVER HAVE WORKED BETWEEN US, DARLING. I'M SORRY."  
  
A/N: This is just a little vignette that takes place on Will and Elizabeth's wedding night as Will ponders Jack's last words to Elizabeth. (And no, its not *that* kind of fic! lol :)  
  
Enjoy! :) Nebride  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
Will Turner shifted slightly and pressed his back deeper into the sumptuous down mattress of their enormous new bed. Beside him Elizabeth murmured softly in her sleep and the hand that lay across his chest caressed him softly before she stilled again.  
  
Will kissed the top of her head where it lay upon his shoulder and inhaled the clean scent of her hair. He couldn't believe everything that had happened in the last few months. It seemed like an impossible dream, yet the evidence of reality, Elizabeth's exquisite body, lay snuggled against him.  
  
They had been married that morning.  
  
Despite Governor Swann's initial trepidations over Elizabeth marrying a blacksmith, the man had thrown the full weight of his wealth and influence behind his daughter's decision. His first action had been to have a home built for his daughter and new son-in-law complete with gardens and an elaborate sword smiths shop on the grounds.  
  
The shop was the rival of anything on Jamaica and because of Will's notoriety in rescuing Elizabeth, orders for swords were pouring in from all over the Caribbean. Almost overnight Will had been elevated from an obscure blacksmith's apprentice to an expert sword smith and gentleman merchant.  
  
The change was a bit overwhelming as was their new house. Though Will had only been in it a few hours now, he knew it would take him weeks to learn where everything was. It was nearly as elaborate at the Governor's mansion.  
  
The master bedroom in itself was as large as Brown's entire smithy. Yard upon yard of netting draped the bed to protect them from mosquitoes. The large windows were open to the night breezes admitting the air off of the ocean and the steady rhythmic sound of the waves. The view was stupendous, day or night.  
  
But Will cared little for material things, no matter how they might astonish him. What was most important was that his many years of devotion and love had finally bore fruit and he had been able to marry the woman of his dreams. That she loved him equally in return, turned that dream into a paradise.  
  
But even now, when he should be feeling utter contentment and exhaustion, especially after the delightful activities earlier in the evening, there was a small cloud of doubt that marred his happiness.  
  
No matter how hard he tried, Will could not get Jack Sparrow's parting words to Elizabeth out of his mind.  
  
'Elizabeth . . . it would never have worked between us, darling. I'm sorry.'  
  
What had the rogue meant?  
  
Will had asked Elizabeth immediately upon their reunion if she had been all right, whether she had been injured and whether or not Jack Sparrow had abused or offended her in any way. Elizabeth had insisted that she was fine. Not only fine, but she had even seemed a bit smug where the pirate was concerned.  
  
Will had not pressed the matter since Elizabeth had not seemed inclined to talk of it. She had told him about making a signal fire. But that was the extent of Will's knowledge about the day and night that Elizabeth had been marooned on an island with Jack.  
  
But what had happened? They had been there, alone together for almost twenty-four hours.  
  
While Will might be willing to trust Jack Sparrow with Elizabeth's life, he did not trust the pirate for a moment with her virtue. Yet there had been irrefutable evidence earlier in the evening when Will had first taken Elizabeth to their marriage bed, that her virtue had been untainted by the pirate, not that he had ever doubted her. . .  
  
But something had happened between her and Jack.  
  
'Elizabeth . . . it would never have worked between us, darling. I'm sorry.'  
  
Will tossed between the fine linen sheets and fretted the matter. Jack Sparrow was an enigma. A formidable intellect lay beneath the bumbling madness that lay on the pirate's surface, an intellect that Will had misunderstood and underestimated. He knew the pirate had no compunction about manipulating and deceiving someone to gain his own ends. That those ends happened to coincide with Will's and were benign to those the pirate counted as his friends, was their good fortune.  
  
But the truth still remained that Jack Sparrow was probably capable of most anything if it suited his purposes.  
  
Will tossed again and a sleepy head stirred on his shoulder.  
  
"Still awake, Will?" Elizabeth asked drowsily, her golden hair looking like moonlight in the darkened room.  
  
"I'm sorry, my love," Will said, hugging her tight. "I didn't mean to wake you." He bent his head and kissed her, momentarily lost in the beautiful magic that lay between them. But Elizabeth finally broke the kiss and looked at him, her beautiful eyes full of concern.  
  
"Will, what's wrong?"  
  
Will grinned a bit sheepishly. "You know me too well."  
  
"Well enough to know that something is bothering you. What is it?"  
  
He hesitated, trying to think of the best way to phrase it, trying not to sound like a jealous husband, no matter what his feelings.  
  
"I . . . what did Jack mean . . . what he said to you just before he escaped?"  
  
"Jack?" Elizabeth asked, wrinkling her forehead and looking puzzled. "You mean, Jack Sparrow?" Obviously she didn't remember.  
  
"Yes. Just before he fell off of the battlement, he said to you . . ."  
  
"OH!" Elizabeth's eyes flew open and her lovely mouth parted in an O of surprise and amusement. She crinkled up her nose in that adorable way that Will loved, and giggled. "Oh Will! You're not worrying about that, are you?"  
  
"Well . . . it was a very strange thing for him to say. And you did say that nothing happened between the two of you . . ." He stopped rather uncertainly. "It's not that I have no faith you, but I don't necessarily trust . . ."  
  
"Jack Sparrow," Elizabeth finished for him.  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Well, as it so happens," Elizabeth said, sitting up in bed and pulling the linens up over her breasts. Will sat up as well and couldn't help reaching out to push a strand of golden hair off of her face.  
  
"I didn't trust him either," Elizabeth said.  
  
"What happened," Will asked quietly. "Did he . . ?"  
  
"Make a pass at me?" Elizabeth asked with that pert look of hers.  
  
"Yes. Did he?"  
  
The pert look turned positively smug. "He probably would have tried if I hadn't gotten him drunk and took advantage of him."  
  
"What?!"  
  
Elizabeth crinkled her nose again. "He was all together too complacent about being on that island. He admitted to me that the first time he'd been marooned he'd bartered passage off the island with some rumrunners. He was only there three days . . ."  
  
"Sea turtles," Will said under his breath in disgust.  
  
"He seemed perfectly willing to just sit on the beach and consume what was left of the rum," Elizabeth said with an impatient little flip of her head. "Well once it became obvious to me that I was going to have to get us off of the island if I ever wanted to see you again, I encouraged him to get drunk. When he passed out, I left him lying on the beach, snoring like a pig and set the barrels of rum on fire. Of course some of the trees caught fire as well and by early morning I had signal smoke rising at least a thousand feet high."  
  
Will could not help smiling. "Clever girl. What did he do when he woke up?"  
  
"Oh, he blathered on and on about the loss of the rum, but I could see that he knew my plan would work. Of course I think he hoped that it wouldn't and I can't blame him there, since Commodore Norrington placed him under arrest as soon as they found us."  
  
"But Jack never . . ."  
  
"Oh, he thought about it," Elizabeth said with another crinkle of her elegant little nose. "I pretended to get drunk with him so he wouldn't realize what I was up to and he did put his arm around me . . ."  
  
"He did what?" Will asked a little more loudly than was necessary.  
  
"He just put his arm around me," Elizabeth said a little smugly, patting Will's thigh beneath the blanket. "But that was all he could manage in the state he was in."  
  
"I'm sorry," Will said, once again feeling sheepish. "I don't mean to be jealous."  
  
"It's alright," Elizabeth replied, her eyes full of mischief. "I rather enjoy having a jealous husband." She leaned forward and kissed him, distracting him for a moment.  
  
"But if nothing happened," Will began, getting back to the topic at hand, "why did he say . . ."  
  
"He was just trying to save face, dear," Elizabeth answered with a smile. "Jack Sparrow is a legend in his own mind. He had to say something after I had diddled him so!"  
  
Will shook his head and grinned at his bride. "As I said before, you are a very clever girl."  
  
"Yes, I am," Elizabeth agreed smugly. "I married the most handsome, most wonderful man in all of the Caribbean, didn't I?"  
  
Will chuckled and opened his arms to her. "Come here, my love."  
  
Elizabeth crawled quite eagerly into his arms and in only moments, both of them had completely forgotten about Jack Sparrow.  
  
The End.  
  
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little fic. I had fun writing it, though I must admit Will was not easiest character to write about. Orlando did a brilliant job and I adored the heroic blacksmith, but the character seems a bit flat. *shrugs* Maybe it was just me.  
  
Captain Jack, however is a character I'd really like to sink my literary teeth into. I've been toying with a full length fic about him. Unfortunately it's turning out a bit Mary Sueish - so I'm probably not going to post it. I'm having a lot of fun researching it and it actually has a plot. I don't know - what do you think? Should I post it, even if it's a bit Mary Sueish? I'll let all of you decide. I don't want to make anyone gag.  
  
Nebride 


End file.
